Pre-Party Formations

PRE-PARTY FORMATIONS. Under Leninist doctrine a vanguard party is necessary to make a successful revolution, but that party cannot be instantly born out of the proletarian brow. Various publishing groups, militant unions, special-interest movements, ethnic federations, and other social forces must become active before a vanguard party is possible. The groups that eventually fuse into the vanguard party are called pre-party formations. From their ranks come the creators of the vanguard party, and their leaders will form the initial central committee.

During the 1970s there was a concerted effort by many radical groups with roots in the 1960s to create a new Marxist-Leninist party in the United States. As these efforts floundered, various components of the pre-party movement each declared themselves to be the vanguard party and named a central committee. None of the groups was able to rally a significant following, and each was denounced by the other pre-party groups as a premature formation. By the 1980s, the new parties had ceased to exist or had dwindled to the size of sects. Half a century before this unsuccessful movement, various groups previously linked to the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World had struggled with various organizational forms until the Communist Party was created. In retrospect, these can be seen as successful pre-party formations.